In return, Le Monde is promised an injection of Ã¢â€šÂ¬100m to repay debts and invest in a future which will be dominated by the growth of news and comment over the internet Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the trio also say they want to integrate the paper with its website.

Le Monde is staring oblivion in the face, and this post by Frederic Filloux is pretty gimlet-eyed in its analysis:

What does Le Monde need now? Four things (at least).

A project. Both editorial and industrial. Editorially speaking, Le Monde needs to turn up its competitive metabolism, to muscle sections such as the business coverage, and to better integrate its website in a strategically planned approach of the news.

A restructuring. Assets such as the magazine Telerama have to be sold (as long as there is a buyer). The printing plant will have to be shut down and the print load transferred to Le Figaro which has built a modern facility that can handle Le Monde print run.

A decisive human resources initiative. Like in every newsroom, there are huge imbalances in the staff workloads, which creates frustration and bitterness. On average, a journalist at Le Monde works 15% to 20% less than its counterpart at the Guardian or El Pais. This has to be adjusted through a fair (but delicate) labor negotiation. Actually, the Prisa group wanted to address this issue rather bluntly.